Why No Excuse

No Excuse is a blog focusing on poverty and poverty issues in Hamilton, Ontario. Look here daily for news items, events, resources, and a chance to engage in discussions with others on local poverty issues. No Excuse was originally staff-written when it was launched in 2007 as part of the Hamilton Spectator's Poverty Project, but it is now a community blog written by people who come from all walks of city life, but share a deep concern for poverty issues. See "Who Are We" for more information about our authors.

October 2008

October 30, 2008

This is actually my first posting on the blog. I had to write to tell anyone who missed it about the rally Tuesday morning by the Raising Our Children's Kids group in Gore Park. ROCK was started as a support group by grandparents who found themselves unexpectedly caring for their grandchildren. The group also includes other kinship arrangements, such as aunts and uncles caring for their nieces and nephews.When the Temporary Care Assistance was taken away from some of the members in 2006 in Hamilton, some of the members became overnight political activists. Since most of the group is on fixed and limited incomes, the loss of the Temporary Care Assistance had a very negative impact on their ability to provide all the medical, dental and quality of life care for their "kids." The reason given for cutting off the TCA was that the grandparents had a "settled intention to treat the child as a child of his/her own family." This was determined by the "length of the child's stay with the adult, the arrangements that have been made to physically accommodate the child's stay, involvement in medical, educational and recreational activities of the child and/or ongoing decisions with respect to the child's health and well-being." What is odd is that all of these things are required by foster parents and they receive a minimum of $900 a month for the child while the Temporary Care Assistance was only $231. I think everyone would agree that a child is better off with family members rather than a series of foster parents. Why is it that the government wants to force these children into foster care which costs more in every way, psychologically, emotionally, and financially? Why are these children being punished? And why are these caring, sacrificing, loving grandparents made to beg for scraps off the government's table?The rally on Tuesday morning ended with Mayor Eisenberger promising to write a letter to the Premier and that the matter would be brought before city council on Dec. 3. I hope that many people will be there to show their support for the ROCK.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recently
engaged Environics Research to survey Canadians on their perceptions of
poverty. Despite what many consider volatile economic times, Canadians
overwhelmingly expressed support for government action on poverty
reduction. Below are some highlights from the survey. Above
all, Canadians believe that now is the time for action: 77% say that in
a recession, it’s more important than ever to make helping poor
Canadians a priority. 92% say that if other countries like the United Kingdom and Sweden can reduce poverty, so can Canada. 86% believe that if government took concrete action, poverty in Canada could be greatly reduced. 90% of Canadians say it’s time for strong leadership to reduce the number of poor people in Canada. 90%
of Canadians say they would be proud if their premier took the lead in
reducing poverty in their province and 88% say Canada should try to
distinguish itself in the world as a country where no one lives in
poverty. 89% say both the prime minister and the provincial
premiers need to set more concrete targets and timelines to reduce the
number of poor Canadians. 81% of Canadians agree their provincial
government should reduce poverty by at least 25% over the next five
years – 55% of Canadians say a 25% reduction sounds just right but
another quarter (26%) say that’s not ambitious enough. Across
Canada, there is majority support to raise the minimum wage, improve
income support programs to help poor families with the costs of raising
children, create more low-cost child care spaces, create more
affordable housing, make sure welfare rates keep up with the cost of
living and invest in more jobs and skills training for people who are
in between jobs. Increasingly, Canadians are concerned about the
impact of poverty on children and families. We have seen many
Hamiltonians get involved with poverty reduction efforts in our
community and the results of this survey indicate that there is great
public support across Canada for action on poverty reduction.

October 28, 2008

Recently, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy published a series of four community snapshots about Hamilton (click on What's New). Capturing some of the on-the-ground efforts of community organizations, these community snapshots profile the McQuesten and Keith neighbourhoods, youth and organizational leadership. Hamilton has always been a community full of creative approaches to challenges such as poverty. These four snapshots provide a glimpse into how individuals and organizations can co-operate to make positive changes in the community. Through the Caledon Institute of Social Policy and Vibrant Communities, these community snapshots are being shared nationally.

Creating Vibrant Communities: How Individuals and Organizations from Diverse Sectors of Society are Coming Together to Reduce Poverty in Canada. Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement, 2008 Tamarack has recently published a book which documents the process and outcomes of 10 community-led poverty reduction efforts across Canada. The book highlights poverty reduction efforts from Victoria, British Columbia to St. John, New Brunswick. Each community is profiled in a chapter which details its community approach to poverty reduction and changes which have resulted. From social inclusion to social housing, from living wage policies to affordable and accessible transportation as a focus, each community has developed a unique focus to their collaborative efforts. Hamilton is profiled in a section about emerging communities. This book is a valuable resource for communities as it details both the importance of collaboration to address complex issues like poverty and the progress which is being made across Canada.

October 27, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, Deirdre Pike profiled on this blog the outstanding
work of a group of unlikely community advocates who are “Raising Our
Children’s Kids” (ROCK).In Tuesday’s Spectator (Oct. 28), I continue the community conversation
that Deirdre initiated and outline some of the other challenges these
grandparents are facing. I also make note of somebody who was raised by
his grandparents and what that supportive atmosphere has enabled him to
accomplish.Whether as a result of incarceration, a mental illness,
substance abuse or other factors, sometimes parents cannot (or should not)
raise their kids. These grandmothers and grandfathers have taken on the
difficult task of opening their homes and raising their grandkids, but they’re
not getting the support they need from our government!Many grandparents used to rely on a program that offered
financial assistance to help cover some of the extraordinary costs of raising
kids called Temporary Care Assistance. Recently, the Minister of
Community and Social Services, Madeleine Meilleur, issued a directive that seems
to deny financial assistance for the grandchildren if their living situation
with grandparents shows any signs of permanency. Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MPP Paul Miller has demanded
changes and was ejected from the Ontario Legislature last Thursday.Key point: If those same
grandchildren were put in foster care, their caregivers would receive at least
$900/month from the provincial government; if they are living with
grandparents, they receive nothing. Many grandparents – at or near retirement – who live
on fixed incomes, have been forced to re-mortgage their homes and cash out RSPs
in order to cover the costs of raising grandkids. Members of ROCK will rally at
Gore Park on Tuesday, October 28, at 10:30 a.m. Come and support these phenomenal grandparents and their
grandkids.Question: As a society, do you think we provide enough
support to grandparents who have stepped up to raise their grandkids? What
does the future hold for these kids if we don’t provide support?

Well it seems to me we are being given a bushel of lemons from Mr. McMeekin and the Ontario Government. Dale Carnegie says “When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade” My recipe for making lemonade is 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of lemon juice. Of course it does require a lot of work to roll the lemons to be more pliable then to squeeze them to get all the juice you can.
The sugar can be tough to muster up especially when you taste the bitter lemon juice. But we must muster up sweetness in finding that cup of sugar. The water isn’t as easy as turning on the faucet. Oh no, we might have to walk a mile or two to find that water and then carry our precious cargo home without spilling a drop. Our challenge is to develop the assets we have and build the capacities of our human resources. We will have to become inventive and original to do this without large sums of financial resources at hand. Are we up to the challenge? Who is willing to roll up their sleeves and squeeze those lemons dry? Are there folks out there who have the sweetness gene to help make the lemonade sparkle? Where will we find the water and how will get the buckets to carry the prize to the lemons? These are our challenges.

October 17, 2008

Today is the UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty. I had vowed I would not rant on this blog but today I must break my vow.However, it seems I am not the only one. This past election, was it not an illegal election? I thought we were to have elections every four years. Bill C-16 was passed on May 3, 2007 which would have brought the election to October 19th 2009. Now, I ask you, why was the government allowed to break their own law? This election cost us $300 million and still all the accounting is not complete. Check out the cartoon from the Hamilton Spectator$300 million. The result is that the Conservatives won 143 seats. Before election they had 127 seats. That was a 16 seat gain. That 16 seat gain cost us $18.75 million per seat. Was this expense to stroke someone’s ego? Nothing was gained. Just the same old, same old! I wonder, how much poverty could we have eradicated with that money? What useful programs could have been put into place for those living at and below the poverty line?

October 14, 2008

Following upon the long weekend, I found spending my Tuesday morning at Committee of the Whole listening to city councillors discussing the merits of licensing cats in Hamilton wasn’t exactly my idea of an enthralling time. What Sylvester and Buttercup might think about registering with our municipality was moot in the end though, councillors voted against cat licensing. Although I was reminded of a Graeme Mackay editorial cartoon that appeared last spring. No, I was really waiting to hear a staff report around licensing landlords.Several tenant advocacy organizations, including the Solutions for Housing Action Committee and the Tenant Advisory Committee, have been pushing the City to adopt landlord licensing to provide a measure of protection to tenants in Hamilton. Last year, the province changed the municipal act to allow cities to license landlords.Licensing landlords and buildings would help offset the costs to the municipality of proactively monitoring and inspecting rental complexes. If landlords were licensed, tenants would be able to find out which buildings have outstanding work orders. Such a system could also keep tabs on absentee landlords who fail to maintain minimum property standards.Sheldon Palmer, who has organized tenants in his building following his landlord’s failure to make necessary repairs, spoke to council about the need for a city-wide strategy to regulate rental housing.At the end of a good discussion, council voted in principle to establish a city-wide system for landlord licensing. A community liaison committee will be established to review the specifics and report back on how to implement the program. I expect landlords will put up a fight and argue that licensing is unnecessary and costly; they’ll also try to pass on those costs to tenants. With average rents already too high, the liaison committee will need to find a way to ensure tenants aren’t being priced out of their homes in an attempt to make those units safer and more liveable.

How does poverty prevent humanity from truly becoming a healthy, whole and prosperous entity? Can we consider ourselves as civilized when we willingly deprive others? Does our indifference contribute to the disease? In my musings, I see humanity as a single body. If we look at a person's body, we see a remarkable miracle at play. In searching for a reference on the body, I went to Wikipedia where there is a graphical representation of the body. Each cell of the body is interrelated and connected. Imagine 100 trillion cells in our body! If we injure one part, we stress another area and cause trauma. If we starve one part of the body, we damage the other. To have a healthy body, we must look after the whole body, not just bits and pieces. By choosing a holistic approach to our own body, we can have an organism that is whole. Taking this analogy a step further, we can apply this to humanity. If we injure one human or deprive that human of a decent level of living, we injure humanity as a whole. In order for humanity to function as a healthy organism, we must look after each and every component of that organism. Dr. Meg Wheatley states in a talk in New Mexico on September 20th, 2003, “a living system—whether it’s a neighborhood, an ecosystem, or an individual organism—when that system is unwell, the work is to connect it up to more of itself. The work of healing is to connect it up to its neighbors, to connect it up to relations that it didn’t even know were part of its system.” This approach also integrates the planet as a whole. If we scar or maim one part of the planet, we injure the whole thus injuring humanity, and animal, plant and mineral elements as well. To prosper, we must look after the whole. All must remain in harmony, each playing its part of the whole. I hear, see and feel the disdain people have towards the poor and homeless. Their feelings of superiority over the most vulnerable are a cancer to us all. As an individual living in poverty, I wonder how can we awaken our fellow humans to this concept that we are one?

October 07, 2008

I woke up today. I am thankful that I am alive. I could see; I am thankful. I could rise from my bed and walk; I am thankful. I have a family that loves me; for that I am thankful. I had food to eat; I am thankful. I was able to donate food to the Café Adonai Thanksgiving food drive, and to be able to help others makes me thankful for what I have.Most of us have numerous reasons to be thankful, but do we truly appreciate our blessings?This Thanksgiving, many people who live in poverty will have to rely on the generosity of others. Some will enjoy a meal provided by the Mission Services at the Jamesville or through other charitable organizations that want to ensure that no one goes without a Thanksgiving meal. Others will be using one of Hamilton’s food banks just to be able to have anything to eat, let alone a turkey with all the trimmings. They may not get to pick and choose what food they receive, but I like to think that they, too, will be thankful.
When you are shopping for your Thanksgiving feast, please think of others, and buy a little extra to donate.Like the old saying “it takes a village to raise a child,” let’s not forget that it will take a community to help those who live in poverty. Do you agree?I have fond memories of my mother cooking a turkey for our family at Thanksgiving and the wonderful aroma of our Thanksgiving meal cooking. It saddens me to think that many children, right here in Hamilton, will not experience those same feelings that so many of us take for granted.Help build memories for these children, help feed these children and their families. Donate.The Spec has given us all a voice with this blog, to share our thoughts on poverty-related issues, and given us all an opportunity to work together through communication to find the solutions. For that I am thankful.When you sit down with your family to enjoy your Thanksgiving feast, think of the many people right here in our own community who, without help, may go without, and be thankful. Then ask yourself these questions. What have I done to help? Have I done all I can to help? Is there more I could do? I would like to hear your answers.

October 06, 2008

John Stapleton has been a social policy analyst for more than 28 years. Many of those years were spent working with Ontario social programs. He was in Hamilton Sept. 23 to share his views with local poverty advocates and activists.The main focus of his talk was to explain why the poor can't get ahead.Stapleton says that the tax cuts given out to business in the past year would eradicate poverty in Canada for six years. He said the money is there to stop poverty in Canada, and the excuse of not enough funds is just not true.Current news reports from CBC Radio One tell of more manufacturing jobs in Canada being lost to overseas workers. This news is becoming the norm, with General Motors leading the way. It got a tax handout using the threat of job loses as justification. Two weeks later, thousands of GM workers were fired, without a blink from the head office.As for poverty in Ontario, nothing changes except the hidden policy tweaks that are seeing more and more people on Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) being shuffled off the active lists of their dentist or other specialists, largely due to the long wait to recoup payment from the government, or because there has been a cut to some health services.It has been my experience that optical dispensers have decided not to see any patients on ODSP or Ontario Works because they are simply tired of waiting to be paid.One optometrist told me he has waited months to collect fees back from the government for his ODSP patients, and his outstanding fees are now in the thousands. He will be going out of business.Another dentist has decided to off-load all of his ODSP patients onto a new partner, but tries to hide the real reason in an early retirement speech. The truth is, the cuts to dental services and many other medical needs are leaving the most vulnerable without a dentist, optometrist, foot specialist and many more. I am not talking about the initial fee for services, but no services at all.Those people in need of wheelchair repair or replacement have to now wait several months for the backlog of payment help to come through. Home care workers are becoming fewer and fewer, while equipment suppliers are forced to find new and unique ways to get money out of the system. I was faced with having to make my own wheelchair repair by using old parts from a supplier. Later research of my file turned up a bill for work done and parts replaced for costs of over $2,000. My signature for "delivery services only" was photocopied and placed at the bottom of a repair bill. When I tried to probe further, I was met with one dead end after another. The service provider had long gone out of business.If those tax cut dollars were re-directed back into social programs, then it would help solve some of the problems that hold the poor back from participating in life, maintaining their health or getting the home care help that aids the home-bound. And then at least some jobs would be maintained locally.Those who are trying to raise children while they themselves are on Ontario Works or ODSP are not only steadily losing money due to inflation, they are losing the ability to function as well.Stapleton reminded us that since 1995, Ontario's social services were set up by Anderson Consulting which revamped the entire social program with 800 rules that "must be met before anyone could obtain help," and replaced social workers with clerks to monitor those 800 rules and regulations.He would like to see 750 of those preventative rules removed and the funding that is now used for tax cuts to corporations returned to social programsCanada has lost its right to be considered a good country to live in when it constantly undermines social security programs to favour tax cuts.